In what turned out to be the biggest show of strength of the BJP in Hyderabad in almost a decade, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a blistering attack on the “corrupt and inept” rule of the Congress, highlighting its failures on issues ranging from foreign relations to food security. He targeted the UPA Government for soft-peddling beheading and killing of Indian jawans by the Pakistan Army.
Setting “Congress-Free India” as his goal, the BJP’s campaign panel head did a Barack Obama act. He made a mammoth crowd in Hyderabad repeat his new slogan, “Yes, we can, Yes, will do”.
“Navabharat Yuva Bheri”, the youth rally of the BJP at Hyderabad’s lal Bahadur Stadium, provided an impressive launch pad for Modi’s southern campaign as he went all guns blazing against the ruling Congress and its “Delhi sultanate”.
The State BJP had fixed `5 per person as the registration fee for attending Modi’s rally. State BJP president G Kishan Reddy announced that the party had raised `10 lakh through registration and announced that the money was being contributed for the reconstruction in flood-hit Uttarakhand.
Expectedly Telangana was one of the main focuses of Modi’s hour-long speech. Referring to the recent decision of the Congress to carve out Telangana, Modi charged the Congress with committing the sins of dividing the brothers and pitting them against each other. But he hastened to add that BJP was always in favour of separate Telangana State.
He contrasted the present tense situation and agitations in Andhra Pradesh with the celebrations with which Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were formed by the Vajpayee Government.
He said that the BJP had equal respect and concern for both Seema-Andhra and Telangana and would like to see both prosper.Modi said, “If you (Congress) had to make Hyderabad a joint capital and build a second capital after ten years, then why you did not start this process in 2004.”
Warning that the BJP will not allow the Congress to do injustice with the people of Andhra, Modi urged the people of both Seema-Andhra and Telangana to beware of the games Congress was playing. He made the mammoth crowd raise slogans of “Jai Telangana and Jai Seema-Andhra” to send a message of unity and brotherhood and take the debate beyond one region or the other.
Modi sought to give an emotive touch to his address by raising voice over the recent firing on loC in which the Pakistan Army killed five Indian jawans.
“When Indian jawans had been beheaded, the Prime Minister had said that if such incident recur we will settle the account with Pakistan . Now I would like to ask why Pakistan was committing one atrocity after another, and country of 125 crore people was suffering silently,” Modi asked the PM.
In an characteristic emotional pitch, Modi said, “When our jawans were being beheaded, our Foreign Ministers was serving biryani to Pakistani guests in Jaipur and saying that it was protocol. I want to ask the youth whether we should have protocol for the people who behead our soldiers.”
He also raised Kishtwar issue, saying it was a conspiracy to repeat what was happening in Kashmir over the last thirty years.lashing out at the misrule of UPA and Congress, Modi said, “Delhi sultanate had lost the trust of the country. It was not able to provide security to the people of the country.”
Giving his vision of Government, Modi said, “The Government should have only one religion --- India first. Its only holy scripture should be the Constitution of India. Its only Bhakti (worship) should be worship of the country. Its only Shakti (strength) should be people’s power). “
In an apparent bid to carry all the sections of his party along, he made positive references to the leaders like lK Advani and other Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States. He said that it was a prominent leader like Advani, who had toured the entire country to demand that the Government of India should bring back the black money kept in foreign banks.
He praised Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for their pro-poor and pro-women initiatives, and urged the Congress Governments in other States to learn from them.
He also tried to expand his acceptability among other parties by profusely praising Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for her efforts to promote skill development among youth.
In a bid to reach out to the non-Congress parties of Andhra Pradesh, specially Telugu Desam, Modi recalled the hard work and services of NT Rama Rao to bring all the non-Congress parties together and making a non-Congress Government at the Center possible. “Now it is for the heirs of that NTR legacy to remember that a Congress-Free India will be the biggest tribute to NTR,” Modi said.